West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit the riverine island of Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas district today– a first since the sexual harassment controversy broke out ahead of the Lok Sabha election. But the Leader of Opposition, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari will not be far behind. Mr Adhikari has announced that he would hold a ‘Jana Sanjog Yatra’ in the area the day after the Chief Minister’s visit.
The Chief Minister will be heading for Sandeshkhali early today to chair a public distribution programme.
The obscure island in West Bengal had hit the headlines earlier this year, before the Lok Sabha elections.
Its trigger was the protest by the locals against alleged incidents of sexual assault and land grabbing. They blamed the local Trinamool strongman Sheikh Shahjahan — who has since been suspended by the party — and his two aides, Shibu Prasad Hazra and Uttam Sardar.
The Trinamool later held a press conference on a series sting operations in which a video surfaced on social media. It showed a former BJP leader purportedly claiming that the whole episode was “scripted by the BJP”.
The Trinamool said the allegations of sexual harassment were politically motivated, meant to defame the party.
The BJP claimed the allegations were an example of the Trinamool misrule and exploitation of women.
In the Lok Sabha election, the Trinamool Congress won the Basirhat seat, within which the Sandeshkhali assembly seat is located.
Sheikh Shahjahan was arrested on February 29 after he managed to evade the police for around two months. He went on the run after his supporters attacked three Enforcement Directorate officials who visited Sandeshkhali on January 5. The attack had let the officials injured.